General Portfolio – 001

The brief we have been, given is to; Create a general portfolio; a publication, exhibit, or show reel. We must create a product to show a potential client. This will then link in with our Creative futures and studio practice modules.

The first question we are being, asked to think about is, what career path do we want to pursue? This could involve one or more of the following options in; Showing works or exhibiting in galleries, working in the media, having a photography business, selling prints, or working commercially are a few of the options available to us. This will then influence our choices of images and the types of photographs we will be taking.

The portfolio should have between two and four genres or types of photography, this will then allow us to show a variety of skills and techniques, with which we can show our creative and technical abilities to potential clients.

How will I want it to be, displayed and viewed by the client? This could be, in the form of a printed Album or a Digital Gallery. What kind of impression am I hoping to make on the client? What kind of images should be, considered for choice in the portfolio.

I first drew a grid in class, as we received the brief. My logic behind this was to create a base for a portfolio. In using twenty squares this gave me the number of images. I could then put subject matter into the boxes. This would narrow down my choices when thinking about other considerations, and make me think about imaging the subject matter in the theme of the portfolio, and give me a kind of formula to work around.

The headings of the boxes are labelled as following; portrait, rural landscape, fashion, food, industrial product, street, wedding, band, documentary crowd, land documentary, macro, architectural, night photography, flowers, insects, abstract thing, abstract light, jewellery, contemporary, document worker.

Would the shot be on location or in the studio? What camera and lens would I be able to capture the most interesting aspect of the subject. What kind of lighting or time of day would be the best. The creation of the portfolio would then become balanced through the way in which each subject matter would be, thought about. And imaged to create a look and overall feel to the portfolio. In this way I could have 10 studio images and 10 location images. I could then have 10 high-key, and 10 low-key images or any other lighting consideration, showing technical ability in the range of light manipulation and modification. I could then create the aesthetic feel of the set of images and be able to blend in the differing subject matter into the one portfolio through how the images are, captured. However, after discussion with the tutor it was, considered that this would be, disjointed with too much subject matter.

These are the images that I think are among my best and are some of my favourites. I have started at the beginning of 2017 in my Lightroom catalogue. This will then show me, through the named files, what type of images I am currently capturing and what kinds of work I am currently undertaking.

These are my first choices for a general portfolio. Before any research or refinement. In this way I can see how, and log the changes that, the portfolio goes through, and see the resulting thought processes behind each one. Due to having to take a year out, I can only choose images from my second year back catalogue and not the first year. This showed me that I have been imaging mostly street work and trying to capture interesting contemporary imagery. There are very few people in the photographs, only two models and a drummer.

These images are portraying what been my personal preference, coming from what I have been shooting, and the images that have been pleasing to me. I have tried to avoid using the shoots that have been commercial in nature or for subjects to be, published. This comes from using different names for work and pleasure, and in trying to keep them separate. I have tried to make it more arty than commercial and this has not come across. Apart from drummer who is in to show other work, the main genres are; fashion, art, and street photography. In putting together my first choices, I chose to use four images of Victoria, to try and show variety in a shoot. I have seen this used by some photographers who do not have a large portfolio and use multiple images to pad out the selections.

However, with peer review and critical reflection, I realise they are quite the same and mostly taken at night. This comes from one of my favourite times to capture images is after dark, when the streets empty and etherealness takes over. I am more at home here than in the streets, during the day. The way the atmospheric conditions change, the feel and the diffusion of light. Different light sources producing different effects in the changing conditions. From the waves of incandescent light to the particles of the LED illuminated light sources, showing up in foggy or different atmospheric, or kelvin temperatures, occurring through the years seasons, along with the cycles of the moon. With just a camera and tripod to capture and steady the correct exposure, playing with the light at night, one gains a certain type of knowledge and experience in seeing how different light sources interact, which cannot be seen, working in such a way outside a studio because, of the power of the sun`s illumination, even when the suns light is highly diffused. Light and shadow, or contrast can be seen at interplay here. Appearing and disappearing with the angle of the sun. Therefore, photographers do not like the midday sun, but at midnight there is a whole different aesthetic scene, mostly un-viewed by the populous, empty of distractions and life.

Playing with the colouration of the images, and the tonality, of the photographs, through exposure, with the minimum of equipment, can yield the most interesting results. This can result, in some very differing views of the same scene, without any filters or photoshop being involved. However, I never really do any post-processing, as most of what I shoot goes to an office and the clients decide, what happens to the image after capture. Therefore, taking in mind the comments I received made me review the original choices. I can see that; the images are quite bland in a colourful way, and do not engage the viewer in a mindful way. I will now research what other local, national, and international photographer`s online portfolios are like, to see how, my work compares, to their work. this has made me change what I was going to put into the portfolio. The first considerations I needed to think about are;

Who is my target audience?

What are they going to be looking for?

What are my peers doing?

How am I going to present it?

At this moment, my commercial work, is moving forward, and a lot is being, published on-line. I am capturing images of bands and invited to image events by the promoters. I am slowly encroaching into some other areas of commercial work, and trying to get commissions. Initially this was why I chose the images I have, showing more of my personal work. This is not the direction in which I see my career moving forward in the beginning. This comes from using different names for work and pleasure, and in, trying to keep them separate. I have tried to make it more arty than commercial and this has not come across. Apart from drummer, the main genres are; fashion, art, and street photography.

Other Photographers Portfolios

I ended up looking at a lot of local, national, and international, sites for wedding, event, and lifestyle photography. This showed the amount of competition in these areas locally. The standard of the sites varied from the free template sites to the bespoke sites some people had. The better sites, usually had letters after their name in association with different professional societies in which they are members, such as the society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP), the British Professional Photographers Association (BPP), the Society of International School and Event Photographers (SISEP), The Master Photographers Association (MPA), and The Royal Photographic Society (RPS).

The first portfolio I looked at was for Andrew Marson, who is a hull photographer. His portfolio gallery has a few shoots and models. There is a variety of images, but nothing that stands out and grabs the attention. Seeing the same models repeatedly became monotonous. I would assume this is a part-time photographer, trying to make it in the business. His prices are quite low, and this is reflected in the quality of the images in his portfolio. The portfolio consists of a couple of family walks and a new born shoot. Available at, http://www.andrewmarsonhullphotography.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAs9zSBRC5ARIsAFMtUXHJBG-ssUSB7OFxKLz-gBGZ4L2PhOJxDgpoDEBdNGz431-TU3NiuT0aAvYcEALw_wcB

After looking at a few more sites, and deciding that, I am not going to be working in these areas, and would not be in competition with them for commissions. I decided to change the search parameters and concentrate on local commercial photographers, rather than local photographers.

I then looked at some local commercial photographers, to see where I would fit in in this category. The first one I looked at was; Karl Andre Photography, available at;

http://www.karlandrephotography.co.uk, this is a professional site split into various commercial categories featuring; commercial, industrial, architectural, press, education, and theatre. The standard of the images is at the upper end of the spectrum, although there is little artistic merit in the images, this could be because most businesses are conservative in nature and want plain simple imagery to highlight their work. A lot of the images are from longer exposures, showing in the clouds and the smooth escalator steps, as well as some of the other imagery. There is some studio work and one image of biscuits? Being, shown in his commercial section. There are fifteen images in each section throughout the site.

The next site is, called Kapture Studio, available at; http://www.kapturestudio.co.uk, this minimalist site seemed to only be showing one image from food and non-food menus. It took some working out to use the left and right arrow keys, when the mouse was on an image, the highlight of the collection for me was the image of garlic, which stood out from the numerous sausages, the placing of the food and its understanding of the dishes, I am presuming the food stylist is not professionally trained, as some of the dishes looked wrong for a professional and would normally be seen coming from a housewife or food lover. The non-food section was a mixture of industrial, animals and nature, with a disjointed approach to this side. The firm is primary a food imaging company and this is reflected on the site.

After this I looked at Neil Holmes Photography site, available at; https://www.neilholmesphotography.co.uk, this site seems more of a hobbyists site than a working commercial professional. There is a lot of different imagery (903 images), on a scroll down screen, all the pictures are varied sizes and of different subject matter. The is also a a noticeable lack of added lighting in the mix, most seem ambiently lit from natural light, and no order in the sequencing. This comes from the first menu heading of all, and then the categories are, listed. It seems strange to have all, as the first section heading and this dilutes the visitor experience, wondering where the thread or narrative is.

The next site was a lot slicker, and is by Jack Gray photography, available at http://www.jackgrayphotography.co.uk, and this site covers commercial and wedding photography. Under the commercial heading comes; Food photography, Bar and drink photography, Product photography, Architecture, and property photography. All the headings had eight images, apart from the last one, which had just four images. All the images look like they have been, taken in natural light. I could not see any studio work on the site, nor added lighting. Other than this a smart and tidy site.

The next site to be looked at is called; Insight Commercial Photography, the site is very slow and not responsive. Despite this the site appears professional and has the following categories; Food and Drink, Architecture and interiors, Product photography, Business Portraits, and event photography.

This site like the others viewed before and after this one, has basic, well photographed, non-artistic imagery. Any creativeness comes from angle of view and the depth of field focus.

You can see the differences in the talents of the photographers, who are advertising locally. The differences have usually been in how the site is, presented and the quality and number of images shown. Most of the portfolios have been on the free templates of the hosting site. The differences have usually been in how the site is, presented and the quality and number of images shown. Most of the portfolios have been on the free templates of the hosting site.

Those sites with accreditation were usually superior in site quality and image quality. There were many sites that used multiple images of the same model or couples in various viewing order to pad out their selections. Most of the images on all the sites were mostly straight images, with very few artistic slants. The better sites showed this throughout the portfolio, some of the lesser talented photographers had some dubious poor-quality images. The pricing for the photographers varied quite a bit, with the better ones charging more. However, their appeared to be one or two who were undercharging, but not knowing their market, this is only a thought. However, some of the poorer sites were charging above their image quality presence and were more expensive than better sets of images, on other sites, again does their market tolerate such a position, or is some of the padding to justify this expense? Most of the event photographers I looked at were more commercial than musical or artistic. Corporate headshots, along with some model or portrait work and then some lifestyle shots. I have a lot of lifestyle candid shots, but most shot at night and due to earlier comments are not for consideration, and they are outside of the timescale for inclusion into the portfolio. From my research, I can start to see that commercial photography, shows a straight forward realistic and objective image whilst, advertising photography is more creative and artistic in the photographer’s eye, in advertising images.

I have a lot of lifestyle candid shots, but most shot at night and due to earlier comments are not for consideration, as well as being outside of the timescale for inclusion into the portfolio. This made me research some more about the business of photography and how to succeed in it.

This led me to watch some screenings about how to market myself, and gave a lot of real world advice on portfolio building and what to and what not to include. Some of the screenings are, listed below;

Lefkowitz L. (2009), Business Practices for the Photographer, available at; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoCci05cnYE, from B&H

This is an interesting screening, with a long time going over portfolios, and how to tailor them to the client. Changing what is in the portfolio for specific needs. He also shows numerous examples of photographer’s web sites, along with critic of their images. He shows good and bad examples. This is an excellent screening for students as Lester goes through all the different, aspects of working freelance, and how to gain more work, how to fish for more work, or extra work from a client. He also gives good advice on watermarking your images along examples of why it is worth doing.

Cable J. (2013), 15 tips for starting your successful photography business, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfDMd3S5QlI, from B&H

This is another one of the better screenings that I have watched. He goes through how he gets his images, and through experience anticipate, what action is coming up, so being able to be in the correct position to get the image. He also goes through portfolio building differently to the other screening. However, the message is still the same.

Cable J. (2016), The Business of Photography, Full Version, available at, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHyEh0bxNOA, from B&H

What, why, and how to shoot for money, and shooting for no money. More of the business side of a photography business, along with more portfolio and marketing advice and tips. He goes through his own journey over a decades experience, as a full time professional photographer, especially following leads and honing in on what to show the lead and how to get the job. he advocates, looking at your competitor’s websites, and where they are advertising and appearing. Also, talk to your clients about quotes from competitors and stay ahead of them. One of his biggest tips he says when asked about; studying photography at university is to study business, instead of photography, and learn photography on the side, as this will make you more successful in long haul.

Gilbert D (2012), How to Successfully sell pictures at Art Festivals and Fairs, available at; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUZJUmQWEZM, from B&H

This is another area of potential business, that might come about through working further with `Ol Town Arts. They run galleries for artists, and are looking at expanding into the digital format rather than the artist painter route they have concentrated on in the past. In this screening Deborah Gilbert explains her approach to the art of being successful in the art festivals and fairs. Going from the very basics of starting out to the more, savvy business of the larger fairs. She also advocates looking at the magazines covering the art market. Taking a choice of images locally, and sell them, as well as, others at some fairs, depending on the target audience of the market itself. Is it at a holiday destination, or will more inland and local visitors be visiting the fair? They will buy distinct types of products. But, always have a story about the picture, to sell it to the customer. She then tells a story about how she grabbed an interview on the local news program, and how customers were then telling her explanation about the story of how her pictures came about to their friends, walking by the stall.

This would be like tailoring your portfolio to the specific job in commercial work shown in the earlier screenings. I had not thought about this in this way, and it will come in useful for future reference, and shows not matter what, to target your work specifically to the market place you are trying to enter, or continue in. if I Change the title of the screening to How to successfully show images to a client, the videos also fits that title and gives ideas and experience about turning up to locations and what to think about when in contact with a variety of potential customers, and the different ways to engage with them, as well as, how they engage you, and how they treat you. It seems knowing the market is a prime concern, no matter what area of photography I chose to pursue.

Stoots J. (2012), How to get your work in front o Curators, Gallerists, Photo Editors, and Publishers, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VOyMFLH2kM,

Soho Photo Gallery (2014), What is a Portfolio? Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VOyMFLH2kM, from B&H

Soho Photo Gallery (2014), Getting IT OUT THERE: Photographers Courting Galleries, Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xa4ufrOf6XQ&feature=youtu.be,

This was a two-part class on what is a portfolio, and how to present it to gain work in the art world. The presenters, explained what and how judges look at entries submitted for consideration for entry into their portfolio reviews held every year. They say portfolios are like poker hands, subtle differences make a big difference.

It is not what you are shooting, it is how you are shooting the subject. Getting corporate work from personal work. How certain artists develop their work.

Whilst looking at my plastic water images, I could see how they could be, improved, with colouration and some tweaking. I then started to research how to develop images, by colourising smoke and using filters and gradients, also how to develop images further. I also watched some screenings about how to be a more creative photographer. I remembered seeing some smoke images that had been colourised and wondered if this would be suitable for my plastic images, it should be, a similar technique to follow, in being able to colour the plastic water images. I also wanted to look at how to be more creative and refresh my mind with some old and innovative ideas. I watched a lot of screenings about this subject. I am learning a lot about, thinking about post processing, when taking the image. I do this anyway as I get feedback on all my shoots and future direction from what is working and what is not, with different clients and briefs, as we hone the working relationship into what they are after and what we produce for them. Some of the screenings have been, listed below;

Lindsey Adler; Creative In-Camera Techniques, from B&H, available at, https:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXUw8ug5FOg. This was an interesting video and showed some good ideas for inspiration in my imagery, and some creative uses of double exposures.

Lindsay Adler, How to Create Portraiture that is a Work of Art, from B&H, available at, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJLIK_t7kx0&t=1131s. In this video, Lindsey showed how she creates an image, to be a statement in her client’s home. Printed out big and shown off, rather than having a 10×8” print. She shows how to create the image, and turn it into art, in order to make more profit, from the customer. In this way she works less, but through charging more, has a better business model.

Brenda Tharp`s; From Static To Dynamic: Creating Photographs with Impact, from B&H available at, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUxXueESm9w, think about what you are photographing, and have different views, to enable images have impact. Keep it simple and come in closer to show things or come out to get an overview. Get different viewpoints and shoot the story and narrative in both vertical, and horizontal to create dynamic compositions.

Gavin Hoey`s; Improve your smoke photos with a Photoshop Quick Tip-Week, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8_jUAvuilE, from his you tube channel. He showed how to colourise images using a hue/ saturation layer and invert the background colour from black to white.

First Man Photography`s, How to Do Smoke Photography, available at; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NI7QRR8p8E, who showed gradients, as well as, similar techniques to the Gavin Hoey`s video.

This then lead, onto some more screenings about gradients and blending modes in Photoshop, starting with Phlearn and working my down the You Tube list. Phlearn is one of my favourite sites for post-processing work, others include Blue Lightning, Terry White, and Adobe Creative, amongst others. This helped to show me how to colourise my Plastic Water images and led to a week of playing around with smoke imagery. I tried several ways of capturing images, playing around with light bleed and total darkness. Playing with light bleed, gave the images a kind of fog, or underwater view of the images, this could come in useful in the future, in working with creative imagery. More experimentation is, needed, as when thinking how the natural light flows and wraps around the shielding, showing the wave properties of light, then the flash, direct and coming from an incandescent gas light source like the sun, powering through. Dragging the shutter would capture the light bleed, but allow the smoke to drift and softening the image, giving more of a fog effect. Layering images would solve this, but what if a florescent or led light was, used instead? Having more of a particle (to me) light, might work. But, would this only work with smoke, because of its opacity, reflected light bouncing off a solid object would, presuming-ly block this effect, as the reflected light would interfere with the light bleed, and blow out the effect. However, dragging the shutter on a solid object would not move as the smoke would. This would then enable the capture of a sharp image, and hopefully the fog or underwater effect of the bleed. Would contaminants in the air give the same effect as wet light. This would come from the diffraction and reflection of light through the air. Like smoke at a gig, creating movement and atmosphere in the environment, getting the light to hang in the air. Therefore, supposing the reason, so many photographers use smoke in their images to create and add movement and atmosphere to the scene. Like Jake Hicks utilising crystals and objects in making creative images, He has a lot of tutorials on his site about how to achieve his look, this is available at; http://jakehicksphotography.com.

I also knew that I had a lot of shoots coming up and in the planning stage. I decided to try and get some model shots and get some different faces into the portfolio, after discussing this with my tutor. Over the next few weeks several shoots were, planned with three different models. Some male model friends got, whisked off to the Caribbean to shoot for a major clothing brand, so killing my chances with some professional models in the portfolio, as they have other work lined up and our diaries, could not match up. I have been having trouble getting hold of some of the female models as they have been travelling and working all around England, A choice of images, for the portfolio, was then, placed into a folder and slowly, and repeatedly went through the choices, chopping and changing the order using different images, which would then hopefully come together into a little set for inclusion into the portfolio.

At this point; a review of where I am now is needed;

Completed shoots for images that could have inclusion in the brief include;

2017-10-01 – Slim Tubby Rehearsal

I had been, asked to capture some images of a rehearsal session, as there are new members of the band. These would then be, used to let fans know who has come into the band and their role within it. This will also be part of the documentation process of the bands archival history.

2017-10-06 – The Caviars 001

This is a new commission, the band have formed to get commissions, for functions, events, and weddings. They will be going through an agency and will be needing an Electronic Media Pack (EMP). I went to Barrow in Haven, which was going to be the location of the shoot, at one of the duo`s house. The house backs onto a rivulet from the Humber, which would hopefully provide a backdrop for some images. The brief is that they want some non-threatening and friendly images of themselves, in a folk group setting, but without looking like a folk group.

I started, as they had a practice session and quickly realised that the cluttered backgrounds, whilst being documentary, would not fit the brief. We had a break and discussed ideas, with Gerry wanting the Si`s dog in the shot. I brought off camera flash to the shoot to be able to achieve our previsions of the intended images. We played around with some ideas and some of the resulting images were built into their website here: https://thecaviars.co.uk.

The Caviars had some interesting captures, however the band meeting, around the Kitchen table, first with a tea pot setting, which was for artistic reasoning changed to a guitar, as the tea scene was, considered too folky, however, having the guitar in the shot, turned it into Rock `n` Roll image, the duo is happy with. This has now become the cover for their promotional CD.

2017-10-07 – Carl Jefferies 007

2017-10-14 – Carl Jefferies 008

2017-10-21 – Carl Jefferies 009

2017-10-28 – Carl Jefferies 010

2017-11-04 – Carl Jefferies 011

2017-11-11 – Carl Jefferies 012

2017-11-18 – Carl Jefferies 013

2017-11-25 – Carl Jefferies 014

2017-12-02 – Carl Jefferies 015

2017-12-09 – Carl Jefferies 016

Carl Jefferies is an on-going commission. The brief is to image the customers of several venues in the old town area, and then capture images of the groups nightclub. I have found this a challenging and demanding brief. It has taken me out of my comfort area as a photographer and made me hone my forgotten social interaction skills. I have and get a few people coming to me and refusing to be, photographed. However, if they do not want the owner to put them on social media, then I will note this and make sure they are not, published online. Other reasons for it being a demanding job are that I must image the venues; so, they do not look empty, not to capture people who should not be with who they are with. Having to judge whether people are supposed to be together is easier than it sounds, and can usually be, seen through body language and interaction. Show off the facilities and the décor and make the places look good.

After doing some research on how other photographers have tackled these kind of assignments, I noticed that all that can be, seen is a flashed-out view, mostly with an advertising logo of the venue in question. It seemed like any variation in this came from the large venues and stadiums, with the better lighting in a larger environment.

I started out doing this treating it like a gig, only using flash for posed shots. This has gone down with the customers and staff quite well. However, the owner wanted me to try and get more of the other shots. This has been problematic, as most people think I am going to charge for the images, or don’t want any photographs taking, or do not believe that I work for the venue I am in. This has been slightly solved with some old cards from an earlier photographer at the club, but has not helped in any of the bar venues. Usually, you can tell as you walk up to people and the eye contact, or avoidance of eye-contact is the biggest clue.

2017-10-09 – Product 001 – Rowntree’s

For this brief, Alison set us a task of three product shots. The first a specific product, the second a group shot, and the final image was to be a mock-up of an advert that could be published.

After much deliberation over the product and the pros and cons of each choice, in so much as can I utilise the product afterwards? In the end I chose sweets as these would not be, discarded afterwards. The choice then came down to which range of sweets and how would I market them.

The choices were, narrowed down to Haribo’s and Rowntree’s ranges. I then looked at how the ranges had been, imaged previously, and remembered an old advertisement of fruit Pastilles, on a stage with a spotlight picking out the sweets on a dark stage. I thought this would challenge me in the studio and would mean the shoot would be more technical and involved, balancing the lights, and getting the correct exposure. After thinking about it, recounting earlier research on studio lighting, and balancing the modified lighting required, would give me a challenge. I would also need a colour checker

Thinking how to shoot the image, would give me the equipment list I would need to book out of the studio. I would shoot tethered to my laptop using Lightroom and my cannon 5d mk3. I would need a colour checker to make sure the swatch would be correct, and any colour retouching would be easier and more controlled in editing, also in industry the images would be, sent off for retouching they would need to know the exact colouration of the items.

A light meter would be, needed to get the correct balance in the lighting setup. I then thought about what light would be, needed and how I would achieve this. If the lights are, set to the same settings, then the light will blend and merge. The spotlight would need to cut through the background light and this could be, achieved by using Paramount lighting as though on a stage. The only colour would come from the products. However, on google images there are shots with a coloured background. I thought this would be more interesting and more of a challenge in execution and would learn a lot from trying it. I would need soft light that could be, cut with the spot and decided on using a shoot through umbrella to create a soft even lighting that would be evenly diffused throughout the frame and gently fall onto the product table. I could use coloured gels and hopefully get the colouration correct with the packaging. I set up the shoot with a key light snoot, coming from above camera left positioned between Rembrandt lighting and paramount lighting. Metered and then brought in a second light with a 24×18” soft box in from camera right, which did not come out as I wanted. Then changed to a shoot through umbrella with a green gel. This would then flood soft light through the scene, and allow my snooted key light to cut through this with it`s hard light, in a better way than the soft box was giving me. After adjusting the lights for shadowing and the placement of the scattered sweets, I managed to get the shadowing, to cover some of the individual sweets, thus standing for, them coming out of the packet and coming onto the stage foreground. By using a colour checker, I should then get the individual sweets the correct colour. The resulting final image less text is here.

2017-10-17 – Plastic Water

This shoot was part of a project called Elicitation, a response brought forth from the viewer. I had a dustbin liner full of different empty bottles, and thought about using them to elicitate a reaction about the state of the oceans and the current social awareness of the harm being, caused by human waste on the planet. The inspiration came from a former shoot with a metal pan scourer and a plastic bottle. The resulting captures made me think about imaging objects in many ways and thought processes. Experimenting with stupid ideas and hopefully something interesting might come out of it. What happens if I light a shiny metal pan scrubber from its centre, how does it affect the light, what happens when I do this, what happens when I do that. This shoot is a development from that shoot, to fill another tutors brief, with the development of an idea.

I set up a home studio. The key light, was underneath a Perspex sheet and lighting the scene from below. This was then, complemented with a side light. Gels were; put on, and removed, as well as being swopped around. The plastic bottles have been, squished and squashed, some were, twisted, before the caps replacement. The bottles were, then piled upon each other and arranged in a pleasing manner to be, seen through a 100mm macro lens, on a 5D mk3, tethered to a laptop. I then just messed around in a relaxed way and kept changing settings and arrangements for a few hours.

2017-10-19 – Slim Tubby`s EP Launch-Trinity Minister

I took the image for the cover of Slims new EP, a while ago. He wanted a pill with the viewpoint and shadow a certain way. The finished set was, over a kitchen table, sketched out on a scrap of paper, and then photographed at the table. Using a piece of paper as a seamless backdrop imaged. This then went off to post production for the lettering to be, put into the image. Which was, then formatted for the sleeve dimensions and printing. When the finished CD came back, the launch date was, a confirmed booking.

I was, then commissioned to capture images for the launch of the EP, at Hull Minister. I have not been in the minister for many years and had forgotten its layout, and charm. The key up-light was, an LED lighting panel, coming from the front up-lighting, and falling off quickly. It
was not very pleasing and gave a nasty colour cast. Some of the images have been, taken with me either crouched behind speakers, or stage clutter. Some of the images are, taken with me laying down behind a two-foot guard rail at the front of the stage area. Others form inside the pulpit or the wings of the area.

2017-10-20 – Up Smoke

This shoot was to try out the ideas coming from the screenings, to experiment with the techniques, the screenings had provided. I also had not done smoke photography like this before. I have used incense sticks and burners to let smoke drift through plants for atmosphere and effect.

I did not completely block out the ambient light in the room, and had light bleed in this set of captures. Putting colour into the images, proved to be successful. This was just a short quick test on the technique, in a hastily constructed studio. More shoots for better images are, needed to develop and improve this technique and capture some pleasing images.

Some of the screenings are listed here;

Episode 7: Smoke Photography; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qPAnKKghlM
this screening explained the Harris method of taking three photos and paste a different coloured channel in to a combination of the three.
Creating Smoke Art; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3crUql7NSk
Abstract Photography Tutorial – Using A Cheese Grater; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgIQOVzkpgI
Abstract Photography Examples U7A4; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0NznsXdkiI
Abstraction in Photography; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CODdp5UPfMA
Minimalist Composition Techniques; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TURFdRtSb7k

2017-10-21 – Healthy Eating

This was our second brief from Alyson

The ideas for the session, taken from other practitioners working in product photography. Having watched some screenings;

Food Photography: Lighting and Compositional Basics, by New York Times photographer Andrew Scrivani.

The Business of Food Photography with Andrew Scrivani, by New York Times photographer Andrew Scrivani.

Food Photography: Concept to Completion, by Professional photographer, Robert Jacobs

All videos are available on You Tube

These gave a lot of considerations when working in this field. In one of the screenings the photographer said his working area is the size of a chopping board and if he is lucky the size of a table top. However, the larger the surface the bigger the problems. He then carries on keeping it simple and small, in this way it is easier to dress the set, and control the light, with reflectors and flags.

The main theme through the research was to try and shoot into the light or at 90o to the light. I this way the textures and shapes of the food would come out, as shooting with the light from behind would result in flat images. The main other accessory would be a reflector to lighten the shadows on the near side camera front.

Having experience in food placement and design, from plates of food to marque banquettes, has made this a lot easier, in knowing how turning a mushroom around changes the whole scene and the aesthetics and feel of a dish, image as shown below in these two shots. These small details make a great deal of difference in such a small tableaux, this can be seen in the InDesign document on healthy eating accompanying this one.

The natural setting for the images would be in a kitchen. I chose a kitchen with a wooden table as this hopefully would place subliminal connotations of grandma`s kitchen and the associated feelings of the thoughts, this would hopefully then covey handmade meals and the smells and memories of being there. This will hopefully reinforce the thrust of the article, in making meals at home and eating a balanced diet.

The time of day chosen for this was after two o`clock as the light would then be fading, instead of brightening if shot in a morning, this would create more harsh shadowing as the clock moved to lunch time. I wanted to avoid the harsh shadowing and can control shadowing on the items, as this was key to the images, after watching the screenings. The shadows also give clues to the lighting used in the images. The differences between the two were; highlighted, as well as, the pros and cons of the different lighting scenarios.

The first setup consisted of a North/ South wooden table, with the light coming in from the east and then bouncing off a silver faces reflector. The silver reflector would then give specular lighting into the shadows, which could then be finely tuned in Lightroom, this would then contrast against the soft highlights, which in turn would allow me to control highlight burnout to a finer degree. This would flatten the image to a degree, as natural light has specular highlights and diffused shadowing, creating the contrast. With the flat shiny textures of the products, this would create unpleasing images and limit the parameters of Lightroom processing in balancing the tones and colouration of the images. This can be, seen in Flash and strobe lit product photography. By using afternoon sun, there would be no need for diffusion at the window. The camera set for the light levels in the room. The reflector positioned to the camera front right. After a period of adjustment, the shadows lightened to a pleasing ratio, in the scene and came out subtlety in the scene, creating contrast and detailing across the image.

I started off with my 24-105mm F4 L lens on my 5d mk3 and began to find angles and positions that could be, captured and imaged for the articles. Slightly adjusting both camera position and constantly adjusting and repositioning the items till they came together and then repositioning them to create another look, I also changed to a 100mm F2 L Macro lens, also to have some choices from the shoot.

I went through the categories of the article and made tableaux for each illustrating the article as I thought the BBC would consider images their articles, and to keep in with the branding of the corporation. In the first images the shadowing from the plant was a little faint and washed out, so I brought in flash unit and aimed into the corner of the window, this would then bounce around like a pool ball and come in from the window and ceiling at the same angle as the natural light and help keep the balance of the scene and help with the background shadowing. I then, played around with the camera and flash settings, experimenting with how the image was, captured and came out in camera, from the various settings. I tried various F stops from F4 to F16, this changed the exposure times from 1/200 of a second to four seconds, Adjusting the flash power, sometimes counter intuitively, proved a useful experiment. This allowed me to experiment with how the flash came through the images and showed how to blend it in with the natural light in unusual ways, depending on the camera settings and the ambient light at the time.

I learnt quite a lot from this brief, and re-engaged my brain into food and the design of plated items, having looked at some portfolios of photographers in the genre, I could see few, had had chef training and the mix of items was not compatible in flavour terms, especially in the herb and garnish areas. Things that would not be, plated or eaten together were often in images together, a lot of them also used varieties of lettuce instead of herbs.

Most of the skill in plating food comes from the sum of its ingredients, close control of knife skills and the sizing of the items needs consideration and reflection as to which way and how to chop or cut the items, before starting as this will give different outcomes for the same practice, resulting in curved or straight pepper or onion strips, as a case in point. Fluid cutting must be, employed so not to leave cut marks on the food, creating wedges and steps in the finished surface. This is especially true in soft fruits, which unlike bread or meat will not tolerate the marks of hand carving. Even then on sliced meat the carving marks must be symmetrical and evenly spaced or it looks like it has been, butchered and not carved.

2017-10-23 – Smoke 002

2017-10-27 – Smoke 003

These two shoots were further experimentation, in trying to capture some smoke images and make some pleasing images. The gap in the two dates comes from playing in Photoshop, and playing around with the first set of captured images. The same occurred after the second shoot.

2017-10-31 – Hull Heard Halloween

This event was a series of acts, raising money for charity. My camera settings to start with are

White Balance is set to Kelvin, which is then set to 3200K

ISO is also set to 3200

Exposure is usually starts at about 1/13 to 1/15 sec, depending on the opening lighting setup.

I shoot from both on stage and off stage, depending on the act, the crowd, and the venue. The images are then, given to the organisers and an archival record is, held at Artlings, and copies go the band, for promotional use. I have shot at The Adelphi numerous time. This is a hard venue to capture images in, and a lt of people complain, about trying to capture images here. The lighting rig is manned by different people, who have varying degrees of experience in lighting up a stage. This results in the gig having only having the front floods, to having the stage correctly lit. this can occur in the same gig. All through the night there will be a few lights on, and the last song of the group will be correctly lit, with a hint of smoke. Others just blast the smoke and stop the crowd and the band seeing each other. Sometimes it is so bad the band cant see each other and I can only see about five feet into the stage. Then the next band starts the cycle again. This frustrates me enormously as I look through the gig and there is 90% incorrectly lit, with just a one colour wash, and the last song has the action and drama of a big stage being lit. when reiewing, I used to question my own ability, until I realised that I can only capture what is there, uness I intervene with additional lighting, which is unadvisable in this setting.

2017-11-10 – Leaves

This was another experimental shoot, I wanted to play with focus, and depth of field. I was also looking for more or different shots to compliment the smoke and water shots, however, I did not really get any. However, after a RPS Yorkshire meeting, there was a flood of images on the Facebook page of the group, trying out blending modes and textures. And during the meeting, the Pep Ventosa method, was shown and demonstrated as well. We had had a go at this at university, and it reminded me of the method. Some of the images, inspired me to have a play with textures. I collected some leaves, and let them dry out, this then made them lose a lot of colour, as they had been wet when collected. I had also collected a piece of twig with leaves on, and this proved suitable to capture some images of. I then could have experiment in Photoshop.

2017-11-26 – Callister

This turned out to be one of my worst shoots, I have ever done. The session, was a hastily set up one tea time in a small cluttered space. The session was just to familiarise the models and child, to being in front of the lights, and the camera. However, the key light in a Rembrandt positioning, utilising a tripod standing on a table, as there was no floor space, with Speedlight another on the floor. Crowding the space even further. With this set up I had no real control of the lighting positioning, and getting brain freeze in the session, over how to control my lights, did not help. One of the model`s eye-lashes kept falling off and keeping the child occupied was problematic. However, it taught me a lot, about how not to go about things, in the future. Learn to control the lights, without having to think about it. My problem was I was changing the light setting on the wrong setting, and could not work out why the lighting was not changing. I thought it was the ETTL, and kept changing the camera settings, to no avail. I Have since re-read the manuals, and watched a couple of screenings on how the system works again, refreshing my learning. I now feel a lot more confident about using the lights, and remembering how they work.

2017-11-26 – Ol town Arts-Xmas Market

I got a phone call, to come and get some images to come and capture some images of a stall at an art market. The stall was in front of Zoo café on Newland Avenue. The entrance to the café lies down a narrow alley. It was in the entrance to the alley, that the pitch was located. Stalls ran down the alley to the larger turning space at the bottom. A few images for social media were taken, and delivered later that day, for social media use.

2017-12-01 – Urban Trendz 001

I set up the studio with two backgrounds lights, using two 24” Softboxes to control the light direction and to stop any light spill, these were set to F7.0. The key light was camera right I a 72×48” Softbox and set to F8.0. The fill light was camera left in a 36×36” Softbox. I used a 50mm lens for the mannequin shots and an 85mm lens for the hats, in order to get a closer crop on the subjects, and this kept the working distance at a comfortable range.

I found acouple of images that would be suitable for inclusion into the portfolio from this shoot. The images are of products, but also have a human element to them, with the eyes of biggie making contact from the t-shirt and engaging the viewer, and the hat on a polystyrene head, looks like it is walking through the frame, caught mid step.

I also realised my method-ology was flawed in keeping track of the many changes going through selections. I am batch dumping small jpg images into a folder. This is for speed of reviewing, also, not to fill my limited hard drive with bin material. I was then slide showing the images and just cutting the choices down. When one looked promising, I would put that into the portfolio folder. After going through folders of images and choosing images for inclusion, I would then go to the portfolio folder and see how all the choices fitted in with the current choice. I then cut any which at once proved unsuitable, narrowing down the choices. Then I looked at how they fitted into the choices as an overview of the whole collection. This would then be, chopped and changed, with sometimes many images being brought back from the bin and re-sent into the collection, only to be binned again as the collection slowly evolved. This evolution stage of the collection in the beginning, changed the theme as I realised that I was shooting the genres of work, I hope to pursue, and it is a good chance to start to sort out my back collection and keep check of the images I am shooting now. I am getting to start to get more frequent commissions and leads of future work, from the web design business. This partnership, gives us an extra foothold in the local market, as we can give individual images rather than the stock images for smaller local sites. There is the possibility of shooting book covers for two commissions currently being, negotiated for, one with a small independent publisher of self-help books, and the other for a global publisher.

I decided to change the theme of the selections and go towards a more commercial portfolio. I then started going through the Carl Jefferies and the hull heard photos looking for images. I soon realised that the Carl Jefferies images, would be unsuitable, as my collection would be full of dark images again. I then looked for a band section, and luckily, I had The Caviars new website, and Slim Tubby`s Ep. Also by having published images in the portfolio, it would fill some of the briefs learning outcomes. I chose a couple from each shoot of the shoots to start with. I now had some smoke images and have colourised my Plastic Water images, these have been, entered, into the Ferens Open Exhibition, so I had some creative images for my portfolio, in addition to the blander product shots. However, most of the event images are also dark and it seems I am going along the same route of the very first set of choices. I needed to find a balance in the tones of the collection and to keep it wide and in tune, rather than batches of images of a similar tone.I also added one of Victoria, as this is a light location capture, and would offset the darker images. I went through the Healthy Eating folder and chose a couple of images. I chose two constructed images to show my arrangement and compositional skills in the portfolio. I also had two images from Urban Trends, whose images are of products, but also have a human element to them

The next round of imaging sessions contained the following shoots.

2017-12-15 – Urban Trendz 002

This shoot is basically the same as the first shoot, except, I removed both the diffusion panels from each of the rear Softboxes in order to brighten the background of the images.

2017-12-15 – Hull Heard Xmas 2017

This time at The Adelphi, the line-up consisted of DJ`s, this is different to shooting bands, and interesting and creative images of people playing records are, limited.

2017-12-16 – Carl Jefferies 017

This is a similar shoot to the others.

2017-12-17 – Home Studio 001-Macro Flowers

I thought about trying to capture some macro flower images. This was a limited time shoot. I was hoping to try and capture some images from two cameras and lenses. A 300d, with a 65mm macro lens. A 5d mk3 with a 100mm macro lens. Time was, cut short, and I only had enough time to capture some images with the 100mm lens. I used this lens first, as I had never photographed flowers with this lens before, and wanted to see how the images and lenses compared to each other. I set up a still life table, usually, made out of two portfolio boxes as legs and a Perspex sheet as the table top, or another portfolio box as the top, depending on the subject matter. Then a chosen, coloured, cloth background, is hung somehow to create a mini studio. If natural light is to be used then an attic window light is employed, and feels like, I am working in history, as I watch how the light behaves, similar to the old masters, such as Rembrandt, in the inspiration that occurs, living in the space, watching the light climb and fall up and down the walls. How the dust shimmers in the sunlight. The effect different, depending on the viewpoint. How the weather changes the light, from shafts and beams of light, coming from direct sunlight, to the highly diffused light on overcast days, and the difference in the colour and tonality that comes with it. Sometimes it is like being a little child, hidden away from the rest of the house, playing with sunlight and a camera, for hours on end. It is a very relaxing space. However, the mind can wander and climb the walls, like the beams of light, on some days, when the light is not, quite what you require. Clouds passing the sun, as its position lines up with the subject matter waiting for it, is annoying and frustrating. The same in reverse, on a cloudy day, the sun keeps on breaking through. However, I have modern technology and can change the environment, in ways not thought of, but probably dreamed about by the old masters.

2017-12-18 – Macro Flowers and Gun

I had another go with the macro lens but, soon gave up in trying to photograph flowers, as I realised that the images would not really fit into the portfolio. They would be too different to the other shots. I also had found a gun keyring in the house. I wanted to try and capture a dark object on a dark background. The keyring is highly reflective and a dark gunmetal grey. In trying to photograph the object, the highlights on the object, would make or break the shot. I was using natural light, coming through the attic window, bouncing off the far wall and coming back in to the viewfinder of the camera. I had flagged off all the light coming from the window. Then I got a medium 5-in-1 reflector and got the black finish panel, to further flag the light on the subject. The reflector would not block all the light.

With this approach not working, I then built of a black cloth backdrop, walls around the subject, and placed the reflector on the top. In this manner, I could adjust the light to completely block it out or let the light in. I adjusted the light, until I had pleasing highlights on the keyring, and started shooting. However, my cloth was too thin and was letting some light in and spoiling the correct exposure. I doubled up the cloth and tried again. I kept adjusting the light bleed, until I thought I was getting somewhere. Having three spheres on top of one another proved difficult to capture, exactly as I originally thought. With postprocessing an image may come out from the shoot. However it is going to be another dark image, and would prove unsuitable for inclusion.

2017-12-19 – Cameo Brooks and Sally Bennett

With the, first two shoots getting cancelled, once by sally, and once by the Urban Trendz 001 shoot. I had also had three shoots with cameo cancelled due to outside influences. Then the evening before sally shoot, cameo found himself freed up, at the same time I had a studio booked. I then arranged with both cameo and sally to shoot both on the same day. This meant choosing which garments for her to bring along.

Sally has had some experience in both underground film making and some modelling work for various people. The shoot was set up and the studio booked for the first of December, when Dave from Urban Trendz called and took over the date, this would be for me to shoot some clothing products for his online shop. This shoot completed, I got a phone call from a rapper asking if I can come to a gig that night and get some images for him. I confirmed that I would attend and to put my name on the door. I thought I might be able to get some images for inclusion. I had another five or six events to attend, as well as shooting the pubs and a nightclub in the town centre. I was slowly changing my mind about what to put into my portfolio. I knew a few of the other performers attending, and hopefully, to pick up some more acts to capture images of. During the evening I got talking to a young rapper, called Cameo Brooks, who is making his way through the gig circuit to promote his work. I had previously shot his first gig a few years ago. I managed to convince Cameo to come into the studio and get some shots for him, and my portfolio. Unfortunately, cameo was late arriving, and did not get here till about 1pm, instead of the 10.30 arrangementWhich finally happened today.

2017-12-22 – BIC Pen Shoot

Knowing what it is, and how to do it, but having never done it as, this is my first Stroboscopic photography practice. I watched a few screenings on You Tube including;

How to shoot Stroboscopic Flash Photos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_dZYD1NOuI

Stroboscopic Photography: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yl87LCFmDc

Stroboscopic Photography Workshop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64nxzbOdc2M

Understanding Speedlite Multi-Flash Mode| Photography Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DffZFI9KLA

Stroboscopic Flash (Repeating Flash) using Nikon Gear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DffZFI9KLA

Photography Flash Technique and static with long exposure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyGa7z4GQ2U

After watching the screenings and getting some inspirational ideas for other projects, I set about caturing images for an Advert. I had thought the slogan out for a BIC advert, whilst working on another project. The slogan was; All Great Ideas Come With A Bic. BIC pens have been around for a long time, and they are one of my favourite pens. I have sat in a lot of meetings chewing on them as I think of solutions to problems, talking to a colleague, one day, I said what do think the greatest idea is that someone thought of and wrote down with a BIC. This then turned into the following advertisement idea and mock up. I used one of sally`s shots, as having portraits in the portfolio is another genre, that I think would confuse the portfolio, and unbalance my commercial slant on the process. None of the images That were coming together featured an image in the portrait genre.

2017-12-23 – Carl Jefferies 018 – cancelled on arrival

2017-12-31 – New Year’s Eve – Corner Bar – Cancelled on arrival

2018-01-12 – Cameo Brooks-O`Reilies

This was a shoot in which I got a phone call on the evening of the gig. He had just been asked to perform on stage for a fundraiser for O`Rielies. There would be a couple of bands and a couple of rap artists performing during the evening. I have had many photographic practice sessions in the venue, and found it a far better venue, than the Adelphi, for the quality of the lighting. The bar is a background distraction in the images and certain viewpoints, show how full or empty the venue is. Trying not to show empty venues is one the tasks of commissions like this. Trying to show the atmosphere and the vibe of the evening is hard when there is none. When a venue is full and bouncing, capturing the vibe is easy. The trick is to do the same when there is none. The other difficulty is shooting rappers, is that they bounce around and are on the move all the time. This makes my normal exposure settings, incorrect and the exposure needs quickening up. The strength of the lighting does not allow this sometimes. I could go higher on ISO or use a wider aperture lens to combat this. There is a one stop higher zoom lens, but to get any further, would mean going to a fixed length lens, and with the performers using all the stage space, this would mean me moving as much as them to get the images, without excessive cropping of the images in post. However, the exposure setting also, changes how the camera captures the lighting in the air and on the performers. Creating a balance between sharp and un-sharp, as well as flooded out, correctly lit, or under exposed. This all depends on; the venues lighting on the evening, how much ambient light is in the venue, what time of year it is, summer nights are lighter and give more ambient light, but also cause distracting window backgrounds in the shot. Mostly gig photography is a balancing act of trying to create interesting images in very difficult conditions, and hoping something comes out in the end. Knowing the bands, or having photographed them before is advantageous, because they will play around for the camera for me a lot more than other photographers, and also I know how they move through the gig and can anticipate any chance for position to image. I can also get in close and hide around them, in this way I can get angles and images other photographers would not be allowed to do or have access to get, as I can just climb on stage and move around them, as they play.

Bringing my portfolio together

I have been going through the portfolio and trying to add any images from any shoot that looked suitable. Keeping track of the number of changes even with my new methods of, having a bin, selecting, making another bin to show the next set of choices, is an-ongoing trail of folders and bins. Once I started to put the choices into a series by numbering them to show in order, rather than in name order, created chaos in the system, through the changing names and orders happening to the collection of images. I have spent two weeks going through the folders, once or twice a day. Then leave for a day or so, as I was becoming image blind. Then play a slide show of the portfolio. Does the choice of images, flow in colours and tones and content, rearranging the order into vertical and horizontal, has dictated some of the ordering of the portfolio? Then it has been a case of rearranging the selections which are vertical and horizontal. This breaking down of the whole changed the collection in an ongoing process of choices and slideshows. Eventually it started settling down and coming together. To a coherent choice of images in the collection.

The final choice of images, for the portfolio, are following, however the order of the choices, is still changing as I swop around the images into a more pleasing and fluid slideshow of images.

FINISHED SELECTIONS – General Portfolio 001

Advertising Fashion – Victoria Summer Dress – University Brief
Fashion – Urban Trendz – commissioned shoot
Personal Project – All Great Ideas Come With A BIC – Personal Project
Editorial – Healthy Eating Article – University Brief
Editorial – Healthy Eating Article – University Brief
Album Cover – Slim Tubby – commissioned shoot
Editorial – A DJ – Hull Heard – commissioned shoot
Editorial – Slim Tubby EP Launch at Hull Minister – commissioned shoot
Editorial – Run Off The Static at Hull Heard 016 – commissioned shoot
Editorial – Cameo Brooks for an Interview – commissioned shoot
Album Cover – The Caviars – commissioned shoot
Fashion – Urban Trendz – commissioned shoot
Wall Art -Smoking Lady – Wall Art – Personal Project
Wall Art -Coral – Plastic Water – Personal Project
Wall Art -Smoking Abstract – Personal project
Wall Art – Ocean Colours – Plastic Water – Personal project

My choice of images has changed a lot since I first tried to make a general portfolio. This initially came about from the classes critical review. This started a long and deep thought process, about what I photograph now, also about, what I am going to, and what career paths, I will be attempting to pursue. This has been a confusion for me throughout my course at university. This assignment has taken me completely out of my comfort zone, in trying to go through my images and make portfolios of my shoots, especially my personal work. Apart from any images used for university, most of my images are still on a hard drive, awaiting me to do something, with them. Not having anything to do for them is changing as I progress through university. My course has shown me how I can further develop my images to a professional standard, and changed the way I look at my work, in terms of other photographers. Whilst commissions are a different matter, and go off to the client, who then decides what to do with them. Through my time at university, I have been learning how do all this. After all the research I have done for this brief; from developing my post-processing knowledge and skills, to going through my images repeatedly, chopping and changing and rearranging the order and choices. I am starting to get where my images and skills are starting to fit into the professional market. My skill set and technical ability, is starting to climb out of the lower end and heading for the middle ground of other local photographers.

Overview of the portfolio

The choice of photographs, I have chosen, I think shows my style in capturing images, with the images all being able to stand by themselves, in explaining what their purpose and showing what they are. The overall look of the portfolio has changed, and now looks a lot more professional. The portfolio shows a collection of studio and location shoots, with a variety of lighting scenario`s and technical disciplines negotiated in capturing the images. With the time constraints of the brief in assembling the portfolio, the events and commissions captured, has decided the imagery in the assignment. I have had some architectural commissions re-arrange before Christmas, to later this year, along with various product shoots for seaweed for a couple of start-up businesses. These could have added other dimensions to the portfolio. I also have had a dessert company, put back, shooting their whole product range for a new website, till this year as they, have just been having a refurbishment of the offices and the factory. This should start in the first two weeks of February, if building work is, completed. This could have given me one or two images for inclusion into the portfolio. However, they might be suitable for inclusion into my specialist portfolio with a later hand in date, and use the chance of plain commercial food photography to try and get some editorial food photography setups. The difference will be in the imaging of these two genres. Product food photography, I would class as commercial. It is a range of products for professional clients, who are ordering in their dessert menus. They will not want plated food images. However, if I can get some plated food imagery as a side to the main brief, this could lead to them using my imagery on promotional material and further commissions. My name is slowly starting to get around the music scene. There is a lot of competition in this genre of photography. I am lucky in that most of my friends are musicians, artists, and other creatives in various fields. They are also in all sorts of areas and distinct cultures in society, from the underground street and youth cultures to the higher societies of; the managers, owners, and promoters of business and culture of the mainstream. This is a case of who you know not what you know when finding out what is going on and any upcoming business. I also get a lot of contacts from a bespoke web design company, I am involved with. Any photographic work will come to me for first refusal. They also have; artists, graphic designers, illustrators, and advertising departments, and can offer merchandising and archival gallery quality printing services. There is a lot of creative energy in the office, and it is very inspirational to be amongst such people. It is also a very good insight in the creative industries. I get a lot of critical feedback and support from peers who struggled in similar ways to myself at university. They understand the barriers in getting, what is in my head into a comprehensible format to communicate the idea. They also have eclectic knowledge bases and have a lot of life experience, in a plethora of different fields, which makes for some interesting academic conversations and thought experiments. It also helps with problem solving and experimenting in pushing what can be, done with things in many ways. However, there is no spoon feeding me in my work, and questions are, answered with research subjects which may hold a direct answer, or may need more investigation with screenings or reading, to come to an answerable conclusion. In this way, I become a more useful member of the team, and develop myself further in new ways. Being able to sit in meetings and see how websites are, developed in the Adobe creative suite, and seeing how they are splicing the different programs into working with each other in new ways, to solve technical design problems, in creating a bespoke site, for a customer, is a good education in preparing myself for this type of work in the future. Also having the confidence to join in some of the design meetings and have a say or view, is also a source of confidence in my abilities. It is from Artlings who, brought me the following commissions.;

`Ol Town Arts which hosted our second-year exhibition, after the original venue fell through, and has made me the in-house photographer for the group. The Carl Jefferies commission, imaging his venues on a Saturday night, which has brought a lot of experience shooting his venues, every week, and interacting with so many people. Urban Trendz commission also came through Artlings, and has now got the commission for building the website and shop. Hull Heard has been a long-time commission, coming from the first Event, and has resulted in my name getting known through the number of bands covered in their events. The Caviars commission, has been, made into a website and demo CD. Slim Tubby and his Debut CD, linking with the gig, is further practice in the fields, in which I want to eventually work.

I have hopefully shown the learning outcomes needed for the brief. I have proven a high-level ability and resourcefully applied advanced knowledge and understanding, in the portfolio, through; the variety of lighting conditions in which the images were, taken, from the studio shots, both at home and in the university, through to the event shots taken in a variety of venues, with fast changing light values. I have also developed and furthered my photoshop knowledge in being able to get a better result in post-processing, using frequency separation, the use of gradients, and a far better understanding of the different blending modes, coming from colouring, the smoke and Plastic Water images. Trying stroboscopic photography for the first time in the making of the BIC advertisement.

I feel I have a creative and imaginative response to ideas and theories within the individual images contained within the portfolio. This I feel comes from the angles of view, I choose, along with my use of creative exposure in some of the event images. I am, told that I catch the atmosphere of an event and hold it, within the image. I feel the development coming from an afterthought, about SKY`s Plastic Oceans Reporting of the environmental damage caused by dumped plastic in the oceans around the world, and relating it to, the original experiment: shooting pan scrubbers, and experimenting with a micro lens and a plastic bottle to the developed plastic water images coloured and abstract of the original object, helps the case of being creative and imaginative in my work.

I feel I have shown the ability to integrate innovation and design knowledge in the development of my portfolio: through the Slim Tubby EP cover; coming from a scribbled idea, on a scrap piece of paper, through to the finished product. I also feel that this is, presented within the, Healthy eating images in the arrangement of the food items into pleasing compositions, showing a design in the placement of the items. The development of the BIC advert, I also, feel shows innovation and design knowledge in its making, through to a finished image.

I feel I have managed my time well in the production of a portfolio of photographic work. The portfolio shows a cross section of my work done in the time-period of the brief. I have tried to constantly evaluate my response to the brief, in being able to show prospective clients a portfolio of images, that show the standard of my work. From my research, it was shown that, in going for a brief, having as many details of the job as possible, to tailor the portfolio specifically into the kind of images the client wants, and shows you have experience in capturing images in the way they want images to show the subject matter, especially in the modern working practices of professional commercial photographers. The research also showed that having up to date images, showing the trends of the moment is a lot better than a dated portfolio of old ideas, from the less experienced you. The brief has made me go through my images with a different eye, to which I normally go through the images with, showing me, I can pull a professional portfolio of work from my recent imagery. This has given me confidence in my work and broadened my outlook in how I will engage with portfolios and how I promote myself, in the future to potential clients.